Metra to start building 2 new Chicago stations after getting state funds

Construction on two new Metra stations is expected to start within the next year after the projects received long-awaited state funding Wednesday.

The two Chicago stations have been planned for nearly a decade, but the state’s historic budget impasse was among the issues that put plans on hold, Metra said in a statement released Wednesday.

About $15 million will go toward building a station in Edgewater at Peterson and Ridge on the Union Pacific North Line, Metra said. The agency received another $20 million for a station in Gresham at 79th Street on the Rock Island Line.

Planning for the Edgewater station is “essentially done,” Metra said. The project will be out to bid this summer with construction expected to start later this year or early next year.

Meanwhile, the design for the Gresham station is about halfway done and expected to be ready by the end of the year. Construction is planned for next spring.